Signal device



Aug. 15, 1939' RITTENHOUSE SIGNAL DEVICE Fiied Oct. 5, 1938 Patented Aug-'15, 1939 PATENT v OFFICE SIGNAL nEvIon Lloyd Rittenhouse, Honeoye Falls, N. Y., asslgnor to The A. E. Rittenhouse 00., Inc., Honeoy'e Falls, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application This invention relates to a signal device, of the general type employed to take the place of the conventional house door bell or other) signal unit, consisting of electric striker operating mech- {53 anism in conjunction with a resonance chamber and'vibratable'plate or chime bar that is struck and gives the desired signal upon the closing of an electric circuit, and it has, for/its object to afford an economical and practical arrangement designed to answer the requirements, and available asalow priced'unit;

1 More particularly the invention has forits eture in which 'the'resopurpose to afford st fnance chamber and electric striker operating mechanism are arranged in front of and mounted on a supporting? plate that is attachable to a wall or othersuitable surface.

Still an'additional object provide a construction in which a resonance 1 chamber is provided in a housing of light weight -metal stock and of consequent low cost, together with striker operating mechanismlocated in the housing, and both rigidly attached to a support which may be of a heavier metal than the housing,

and designed to hold all the parts in a stable,

unitary relationship. I

Anadditional purpose of the invention is to afford a constructionthat permits a quickand economical assembly of the several parts and e- .sults in a finished unit that'is compact d pleasing in appearance when arranged in operative position.

"- To these and other ends, the invention consists in the construction and arrangement of parts 5 thatwill appear clearly from the following description', when read in'conjunction with the accompanying drawing, the novel features beingv pointed out in-th'e claims following the speciflcation. 40 InJzhe drawing:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a signal device, partially in verticalsection, constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly in section, and Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view on theline 3-3 of Fig. 1 lopklng downwardly.

This application isa continuation in part of application Serial No. 175,296, filed November 1 r 18, 1937, which everituated in Patent No.2,147,498,

50 February 14, 1939 and has to do specifically with therelation of thesupporting plate, resonance chamber housing, and electric striker operating means,- and the construction by which these parts are united.

. 55 Referring more particularly to the. d awing, in

r the-invention is to October 5, 1938, Serial No. 233,351 2 Claims. (01. 111-1 which like reference numerals refer to the same parts, i designates the supporting plate having an opening}; to .receive a suitable fastening means -by which it can be secured to a wall or other surface, the supporting plate I being of 5: sufficiently heavy metal stock to give the required rigidity and stability to the structure.

The supporting plate I preferably carries a chime bar or vibratable plate 3 which may be mounted thereon in any suitable way. In the 0 present arrangemen, the supporting plate is s provided near its ends with arms having' oifset I portions 4 and 5 connected by vertical portions 6, and the chime bar 3 has openings 1 permitting it to be arranged on the portions 5 of the supportingarms as shown. It is. to be understood that the chime bar 'may be otherwise attachedto the support, a'ndniay' be permanently positioned thereon if preferred instead, of being removable,

the particular manner in which the chime -bar 20 is mounted on the supporting plate forming no part of the inventionherein claimed.

The resonance chamber is provided by a housing 8, which is secured tothe supporting plate in a manner that will be described presently, -25

and may be formed of light weight metal such as tin plate or 'other suitable material. The housing 8 is closed at the bottom bythe wallil, and may be provided around its upper edge with the exterior band Ill welded to the housing 8 at a'portion or portions along the front edge thereof, while i I designates an electromagnet or solenoid mounted within the housing 8 and provided witha striker l2 that is movable upwardly through the open top of the resonance chamber-to engage the chime bar 3 i when the circuit is closed. v

The housing 8 forming the resonancechamber I and the electromagnet I I are both secured to and carried by the supporting plate ,I in any suitable 40 and practical manner. To accomplish this, the electromagnet is carried 'by a bracket consisting of metal straps l6 and I 4, the latter including an upstanding portion. l5 by means of which the bracket is secured to-the supporting plate I.

According to one practical application of the invention, the supporting plate I, band Ill; and

housing '8 may have struck therefrom the forrelationship, a spot-welding operation is effected through the sup rting plate, band It, housing which is preferably spot- 30 a, and bracket arm II, as indicated at a, and these parts areheld together firmly and rigidly by the welds at these two points, which serve to secure the housing and solenoid bracket tightly to the supporting plates and unite them rigidly thereto.

While I have disclosed an electric welded con-.

nection between these several parts, it will be to utilize a very light weight metal for the reso nance chamber housing, and thus effect a'considerable saving as compared with structures where the housing must be made of suiflciently heavy metal to support the chime bar and electric striker operating unit. Another advantage in making the resonance chamber housing of lightweight metal is that it permits forming the housing on high-speed, automatic can-making machines, which is not possible where heavy stock is required. By securing the solenoid bracket and housing to the supporting plate at the same point, it is possible to unite the three elements quickly in one operation, as for instance where the several surfaces are spot-welded together.

While the invention has been described with reference to a particular embodiment, it is not confined to the details of construction herein disclosed, and this application as intended to cover any'modiflcations or changes coining within the spirit of the improvements or the scope of the following claims.

I claim: c

i 1. In a signal device, the combination with a vertically positionable supporting plate, of a vertically arranged housing locatedin front of the supporting plate and constituting a resonance chamber, said housing having the upper portion of its rear wall fixedly attached to the central part of the supporting plate, the supporting plate extending laterally and upwardly beyond said housing, a chime bar mounted on the end portions of the supporting plate, electric striker operating mechanism located within the housing for actuating a striker upwardly to engage the chime bar, and a bracket for said striker operating mechanism, said bracket being positioned against the upper portion of the rear wall of the housing and attached to the central lower part of the supporting plate."

2. In a signal device, the combination with a vertically positionable supporting plate, of avertically arranged housing located in front of and. extending below the supporting plate and constituting a resonancechamber, a chime bar horizontally arranged above said resonance chamber, and electric striker operating mechanism located within the housing for actuating a striker to engage said chime bar, a portion of the rear wall of saidhousing being secured to said supp rting plate and the striker operating mechanism also being directly secured to said supporting plate whereby said supporting plate constitutes a major supporting means for the striker operating mechanism.

LLOYD RI'ITENHOUSE. 

